Improved infrastructure for high speed trains between France and Germany

Creation date: May 25, 2011

The European Union will finance a project to upgrade a 17.5 km section of French railway which will allow high speed trains to run faster and thus reduce travel times. The project, presented under the 2010 TEN-T Calls, is essential in guaranteeing the proper connection of the French and German networks and will further contribute to Priority Project 24, the “Railway axis Lyon/Genova-Basel-Duisburg-Rotterdam/Antwerpen”.

The cross-border railway between Mulhouse and Müllheim is a single-track line whose French section is 17.5 km long. The railway connects with the Karlsruhe-Freiburg-Basel railway line, which is part of Priority Project 24.

The EU will finance a project on the above French section of this railway line for a total of €0.72 million from the TEN-T budget, to allow for faster transit of high speed trains and contribute positively to mobility of passengers and freight.

The following specific works will be carried out:

Upgrade of the signalling equipment to allow for higher return traction currents;

Strengthening the track foundations by replacing the ballast to enable continuous speeds of up to 90 km/h;

Automation of three level crossings.

Once completed, the project will allow high speed trains running between Paris, Lyon or the Mediterranean (Marseille, Barcelona) to Freiburg-im-Breisgau to reduce their travelling times by 10 minutes, thus rendering rail more competitive against other less energy-efficient modes of transport.